On ice
Our lights flickered for several hours yesterday. Then they went out. And stayed out. We pulled out the sofa-sleeper, opened up the recliners and camped out in the living room, where the fireplace is. I read by candlelight for a while, then made sure everyone was tucked in, blew out the candles and found a spot under the covers. I’d say I slept, but that didn’t really happen. I was up again at 2 a.m., when the power came back, turning things off again. This morning, we cleared downed branches. We’d heard the trees cracking under the ice all night.
![20110221-ice-01](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/20110221-ice-01-300x180.jpg)
![20110221-ice-02](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/20110221-ice-02-300x187.jpg)
![20110221-ice-03](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/20110221-ice-03-300x200.jpg)
![20110221-ice-04](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/20110221-ice-04-300x216.jpg)
![20110221-ice-05](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/20110221-ice-05-300x201.jpg)
![20110221-ice-06](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/20110221-ice-06-300x208.jpg)
![20110221-ice-07](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/20110221-ice-07-300x193.jpg)
Posted by Becky @
10:59 am |
I watch the birds fly south across the autumn sky
For just a few hours one day in October, my yard was filled with thousands of birds. When I first pulled into my driveway, I noticed the grass in my yard was black. Then I looked again. My grass wasn’t black. My grass was covered with black birds. As I neared the garage, they flew off in a mass. I parked the car, grabbed my cameras and followed them around the yard.
They flitted about and flew from tree to tree in droves. It was fascinating and a little creepy in a Hitchcockian way.
They were so high in the trees, I figured there was no way they could hear me over their own noise. But as I walked through the yard, it seemed as if I disturbed one and set them off to swarm away in a group to the next tree. At that moment, the chirping would stop, and all I could hear was the fluttering of wings. (I’d also get that dippy feeling in my stomach that maybe I should duck or run for cover.) Then the chorus would start again.
I listened and watched for about an hour. By the time I brought the kids home from school, all the birds were gone.
![20091009-birds-01](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/20091009-birds-01-300x212.jpg)
![20091009-birds-02](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/20091009-birds-02-300x226.jpg)
![20091009-birds-03](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/20091009-birds-03-300x222.jpg)
![20091009-birds-04](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/20091009-birds-04-300x227.jpg)
![20091009-birds-05](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/20091009-birds-05-300x179.jpg)
![20091009-birds-06](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/20091009-birds-06-300x221.jpg)
![20091009-birds-07](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/20091009-birds-07-300x196.jpg)
![20091009-birds-08](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/20091009-birds-08-300x171.jpg)
![20091009-birds-09](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/20091009-birds-09-300x178.jpg)
![20091009-birds-10](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/20091009-birds-10-300x172.jpg)
Posted by Becky @
2:17 pm |
So the season of the fall begins
October 16, 2009 | Iowa
More fall colors. Before the snow.
![20091009-fall-01](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/20091009-fall-01-300x225.jpg)
![20091009-fall-02](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/20091009-fall-02-300x231.jpg)
![20091009-fall-03](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/20091009-fall-03-300x220.jpg)
![20091009-fall-04](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/20091009-fall-04-300x196.jpg)
![20091009-fall-05](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/20091009-fall-05-300x208.jpg)
![20091009-fall-06](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/20091009-fall-06-300x231.jpg)
![20091009-fall-071](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/20091009-fall-071-300x177.jpg)
![20091009-fall-08](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/20091009-fall-08-218x300.jpg)
![20091009-fall-09](https://deepmuckbigrake.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/20091009-fall-09-300x208.jpg)
Posted by Becky @
6:00 am |